The Morning After
by nevertalk
Summary: He never thought it would happen like this.


Mia Fey let a contented murmur escape her lips as she hugged her pillow. Laying on her left side she shifted her right arm just a bit to allow Diego's exploration more access. Even with her sleep addled brain she could feel his probing hand work its way up her side to cup the bottom of her breast. Mia's lips formed a tiny, tired smile as she pretended to remain asleep. There was no reason she had to stop his fun just yet. It had been so long.

Far too long, Mia slowly began to realize. Diego was in prison. She was dead. As that hand gave her an appreciative squeeze she realized everything that was happening was impossible. The woman rolled over in a sudden panic, eyes wide.

The jostling of the bed rose Phoenix from his drowsy state and his eyes flung open as well. The startled pair just gaped at each other in a mortified silence that lasted exactly two seconds. Mia screamed in horror, Phoenix followed suit, and the pair jumped away from each other just as suddenly as they had woken up. Mia snatched up the bedsheets to cover herself and Phoenix promptly fell to the floor about as gracefully as a ballet dancer with a peg leg.

"Phoenix Wright, what in the _hell_ is going on here!?" Mia demanded loudly.

"I don't know?" offered a timid voice off the floor.

"Wright?" Mia tried again, voice still firm despite her heart thumping.

Phoenix peeked over the edge of his bed to spot an indignant, naked woman hugging his sheets to herself. He stared at anything that wasn't her to stave off the flushing of his cheeks and sweat forming on his brow. "H-hi, Chief..." was all he managed to squeak out.

"Wright, answer the question."

"Uh, right... Um... last thing I remember Maya and I... we... Uh, how are you? Been a while..."

"You and Maya what?" Mia demanded. Her head darted around, taking in the room. It was then she realized where she was. This bedroom had been hers, years ago, before Phoenix had moved in above the office. "Y-you two are... When were you planning on telling _me!?_"

Phoenix rubbed at the back of his neck. "Uh, well not right now or quite like this, that's for sure..."

Mia stared holes in her former apprentice but took a deep breaths, trying to calm herself. "I'd certainly hope not," she replied as she looked away and rubbed at her temples.

"S-so you aren't mad?"

Mia brushed back some of Maya's bed head, careful not to let her bed sheet fall. "No, no I don't think so," she decided. "Not yet, anyway. I'm _hoping_ I just overreacted. I just wasn't expecting to wake up in your bed… in the nude… with your hands on me."

_(Objection! It was just one hand!) _"To be honest, I wasn't either... Why would Maya channel you _now_ of all the times?"

"Sleep channeling, I presume," Mia replied. "Spirit mediums can channel spirits close to them while asleep, Phoenix. It's usually due to powerful emotions like fear or stress, though considering the circumstances I'm going to assume it was something else..."

Phoenix swallowed hard.

Mia studied his nervousness with expert precision. She had been expecting her little sister and her former student to learn what they meant to each other eventually but there was definitely more to this than simple young love. "Would you mind leaving so I can get dressed?" she requested. "I think we should have a talk."

Phoenix's heart skipped a beat. "S-sure. Maya's clothes are... somewhere. They should be, anyway. Or, uh, I might have something that might fit you."

"So now you're expecting me to wear your clothes too?"

The man's sheepish grin had never been more ungainly. "Ironically, I gave all the clothes you left here back to your sister..."

"Maybe you should put something on yourself," Mia suggested, looking at the wall out of modesty.

Phoenix looked down and reacted with a start, using his hands to cover himself. "Gak!" he cried out. He jerked his head from side to side before asking, "Do you see my pants anywhere?"

"I don't need to hear this..."

Phoenix's jaw tensed, clamping itself shut before he dug his hole any deeper. Quickly grabbing whatever was on top in his dresser he hurried out the door, putting his legs in pants as he went. Once he was outside and freshly in pants he laid against the door to let his heart calm down and his head clear. A tall order considering he had just remembered Maya had arrived at his apartment in casual clothes that had been tight on _her_ let alone her busty older sister.

Naturally Phoenix had always entertained the occasional fantasy about Mia when he was a rookie. After all, he was a man and Mia... was Mia. Nevertheless he had always tried to cut such daydreams off at the pass. For starters, she was his boss. Besides that, he owed her his life and respected her far too much to cheapen her in such a way. Of course none of those fantasies of being in bed with her ever quite ended up like this.

As always, he shook the images from his head. He was in love with her little sister. Even if that was still technically Maya's body it was wrong. He had never heard of "sleep channeling" but if it was going to be a problem, further physical relations would prove troublesome. Speaking of trouble, Phoenix felt the panic in him rise up again. With Mia channeled and in his apartment, the truth about everything had to come out. With her in Maya's body, he had no help to explain things. He briefly considered leaping out the window, but only being on the second floor it likely would not have done the trick. Instead, he drug his body to his kitchen, putting on his shirt as he went, and sat down at the table to await the inevitable.

After dressing herself, Mia eventually found her former pupil still sitting in place, his elbows on the table and his forehead resting in his hands. It was clear to her whatever was troubling him was something serious. There must have been some reason she had to find out about the happy couple by accident.

"Don't start pouting, Phoenix. I promise I'm not going to get mad," she said, standing over the chair across from him. "I told you before I was right to trust you with Maya. I know you'd never hurt her."

"Right," Phoenix rasped out.

"So, last night was...?"

"F-first time," Phoenix confessed. First two times, in actuality, but he saw no need to admit to that. "I-it was her idea, um, I mean, I'm not putting this all on her, but, uh, I just mean I didn't force..."

"Phoenix," Mia interrupted, "calm down. I just told you I'm not mad."

Phoenix stopped rambling on command. He looked up to his mentor in obedient silence and finally got a good look at her. Against his better judgment he could feel amusement beginning to replace the fear he had been wearing.

The woman must have seen his expression and sternly crossed her arms beneath her chest. "You didn't tell me Maya wore a tiny tank top here instead of her robes. I think you've seen enough of me for one lifetime so I'm borrowing a dress shirt."

"That's not what's so funny," Phoenix retorted.

Mia gave another fruitless tug at the man-sized sweatpants she found, her hips barely able to keep them from simply falling to the floor. "I'm about to break the promise I just made, Wright," she threatened. Clothes far too big for her were quite the change from the ordinary and getting back on topic seemed her best bet.

Phoenix killed his smile and put his head back down like a shamed child, watching Mia out of the corner of his eyes as she took a seat across from him. She sat there for a while without saying another word. He wondered if her silence was to purposely build tension. Perhaps a year ago he would have broken. It was still tempting. She just held that power over him. Only he was a professional poker master now and knew better than to tip his hand. He remained quiet and played the waiting game along with her.

Mia cupped her mouth with her hand in thought. "So you've really fallen for her at last; and not even literally this time, huh?"

Phoenix nodded amenably. "Well, everyone assumed we were together anyway. Seemed like the thing to do..."

"But you _do_ really love her, right?"

"Yes," Phoenix affirmed. "I love her, Chief. God, do I."

Mia's face warmed with a smile. "That sounds better. Now was that so hard?"

Phoenix smirked slightly, rubbing at his neck again. "Kinda. I mean, you trusted me with her and now we're sleeping together..."

Mia swatted the very notion from the air with a wave of her hand. "You're both adults, Phoenix. I think I can let her go at 20 years old."

"21," Phoenix instinctively corrected. The smirk abruptly fell from his face as he realized what he had just said.

"21?" Mia inquired. "Wait, how long has this been going on?"

Phoenix only remained quiet for a second, but that one second was filled to the brim with dread and mental cursing. He forced himself to answer, knowing he would have to come clean eventually. "Uh, about a year now. April 19th, 2019."

"You remember the date and everything? Phoenix, I'm impressed."

"Yeah, well... it's hard to forget."

Mia's brow lowered suspiciously. "That sounded more ominous than love should..."

Phoenix stood from his chair and glanced around his kitchen. He found no nearby bottles of grape juice for the artificial courage he claimed it gave him. Of course there weren't. Maya was over and he didn't need the stuff with her around. Instead he took a deep breath, steeled himself, and started out of the room.

"There's a reason you weren't told the good news immediately," he admitted.

"Phoenix, what is it? Is something wrong between you?"

"Actually, things between Maya and me are all that _aren't_ wrong," he said on his way out.

Mia moved to stand up but second guessed herself. The scraping of her chair against the floor as it moved froze her in place. She suddenly felt just as trepidatious as her protégé but forced herself out of her seat anyway. She grabbed hold of her borrowed, baggy sweatpants and followed Phoenix down the hall and down the steps to where she was expecting to see the Wright and Co. Law Office.

Hesitation clawed at Phoenix, trying to knock his hand from the doorknob. The point of no return drew ever closer. He summoned all of his courage and turned the knob, opening the door. With anemic enthusiasm, he gestured to the Wright Talent Agency's décor consisting of magic props and a rarely used piano.

Mia stepped into the old office and panned her head around with confusion. She moved to a plate of plastic spaghetti and prodded the fork supposedly floating above it. "Which one of you two picked up parlor tricks?" she asked.

"That would be my daughter's," Phoenix answered.

Mia whirled around and gave Phoenix an intense look that could physically immobilize at moving bus. "How could it have been the 'first time' if you already have a _daughter!?_" she shouted.

Phoenix flinched in a fashion reminiscent of defending against Franziska von Karma. "N-no, no! She's just mine!"

"_What!?_ Who was it? Was it Iris!? Phoenix! How could-"

"Chief, wait, she's adopted!"

Mia's furious verbal assault came to a halt as quickly as it began. "Adopted?" she repeated. She sighed, frowning at the man opposing her. "Phoenix, you really have to learn to explain things more quickly..."

Phoenix ran his hands through his hair and groaned. "I know, I know. Her name's Trucy. She... she belonged to my last client before he disappeared. Maya actually, um, she's paying for her to go to Magicians' Camp in the summer so we could have some time to ourselves..."

Mia nodded, trying to piece everything together. "I see. Um, congratulations, I think. But your client 'disappeared?' What does that mean? What happened?"

Phoenix had been mentally preparing himself, but the question still over took him like a tidal wave. Everything left him but the vision of Mia patiently waiting for an explanation she could never expect. He could not even make his mind race for an answer. It moved slowly, sluggishly, just afraid of the words as he was.

"H-he disappeared, like I said," he started. His voice sounded as weak as he felt. "Poof, just like that. He was a magician too, like Trucy, and so he fled the courthouse and still hasn't been seen again to this day."

"That's quite the trick. He should have just trusted you to save him."

Mia's kindness had never cut so deep. Her supportive smile only made a lump take Phoenix in the throat. "He did, Chief," he forced out.

Mia cocked her head. "I don't understand."

Phoenix felt his confession churn his stomach as it made its way to his lips. "I... I failed him. I-I fail _you!_ I ruined your office!" he stammered before hanging his head in misery.

"Just because of a loss? Phoenix, you can't win all th-"

"Because I lost my badge!"

Silence blanketed the room like an oppressive darkness listening to the echo of Phoenix's outburst die down. Mia only stared at the man looking back at her. He had to have been joking. The very notion was absurd. He was Phoenix Wright. He struck fear in the hearts of evil and turned around the most impossible of cases. The idea of her prized apprentice being stripped of his badge had never even crossed her mind as a possibility.

"H-how?" was all she asked.

Phoenix could not answer. He saw pain in her eyes identical to Maya's. Fitting, since they technically were Maya's eyes. To see the woman he so admired, so idolized, devastated because of something he had done shut him down inside. He slowly staggered his way toward her, feeling himself crumbling beneath her heartbreak.

"I... I screwed up, Chief. I just presented that page, I didn't even think, I just... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I ruined everything!"

"Oh, Phoenix..."

Mia moved her arms to envelop her former pupil and he collapsed on her in a sorrowful hug, apologizing over tears he had not shed since the day it happened. She could feel his weight dragging them both to the floor until she was in a seated position, bracing him as he cried. She fought hard against the sympathetic lump in her own throat. She had never let Phoenix be lost to despair before and she could definitely not start now.

"Phoenix," she whispered softly. "You can't cry yet."

"Yes I can," he muttered in reply, his voice cracking. "I'm not a lawyer any more."

Mia forced Phoenix out of the hug and placed him at arms length by his shoulders to look him in the eye. "Yes you are," she told him. "That badge didn't make you a lawyer. Your heart did."

"Tell that to the Bar Association..."

Mia sighed. "Forget them. Why do you think Maya fell in love with you?"

"B-because I saved her life?" Phoenix guessed, wiping at his eyes.

"No, that's why she formed a crush on you."

Phoenix paused with a hand to his face. "Sh-she... you knew?"

Mia smirked. "I'm her sister, Phoenix, of course I knew. The reason she loves you is because of that same heart; because of who you are. You never gave up on anyone. You can't give up on yourself either."

Phoenix looked into his lap and blinked his eyes. "But it's been a year, Chief. I'm not getting anywhere. I'm just stringing her along and... and we can't even see each other!"

"Aren't you seeing each other now?"

"No," Phoenix answered with a devastated voice. "The Master of Kurain can't associate with a scumbag forger like me. I don't know what she told the elders, but they can't know she's here right now. If anyone asks I'm just a lonely single father."

Mia let her hands drop from Phoenix's shoulders into her lap. "Oh, Phoenix," she breathed again. "How... just how often can you see each other?"

Phoenix leaned forward, bracing his head on his hands. "Maybe once or twice every couple months?" he wagered.

"Phoenix..."

"We talk on the phone almost every night..."

"Phoenix, this isn't healthy for either of you."

"I know... but what else can we do?" Phoenix choked slightly and followed his question with another. "What have I become?"

Mia carefully studied the ruined man in front of her. She could only imagine the pain Maya was going through in this relationship. Part of her wanted to demand they call it off; end their self-inflicted torment, but she knew that would never be an option. She knew far too well the heartache of loving someone from afar, even when she was at his bedside. Furthermore, Maya was probably all that was keeping Phoenix going at this point. She saw his plaintive eyes waiting for her advice and she slowly began to realize she had none to give.

The woman rose to her feet and watched Phoenix's face follow her. She offered him her hand and requested, "Come on. Let's get off the floor."

Phoenix dolefully put his hand in hers and forced himself to stand with her aid. Once reaching full height, he broke his gaze away from his mentor and rubbed again at his red eyes. Part of him was ashamed; he was once again leaning on Mia Fey and had broken down in front of her. However, if she could magically produce the answer that had eluded him for over a year, he would readily accept it.

"I'm glad to see my couch survived, at least," Mia said.

She walked over to the fine leather sofa and sat down in it. It was hardly as firm as it used to be, but it was a small spot of familiarity in what was clearly no longer a law office. She looked to Phoenix who was still wavering in place and gave him a sympathetic smile. With a pat of her hand on the cushion next to her, she offered him a seat.

Phoenix wandered to Mia's side and sat down, hunched forward with his head in his hands. "I thought I had gotten used to this," he confessed, "but admitting it to you is so hard, Chief. I... I wanted Maya to help me explain it but... I was always too scared."

"Phoenix, it's alright. I still believe in you, just like Maya. Start from the beginning and we can figure this out, just like old times."

A tiny smile twitched at Phoenix's cheek. Mia did always know what to say.

"You remember Maya's inauguration day, right?" he started.

Mia nodded. "You did mention you had just picked up a magician for a client as I recall."

"That next morning I met him at the courthouse. I met Trucy too." Phoenix chuckled softly. "She was so cute in her little pink magician's outfit with that smile on her face."

"You can tell me all about her after this," Mia encouraged.

Phoenix nodded. "Trucy handed me this page, said it was for me and that someone gave it to her. I didn't know what it was at the time and just pocketed it. Court was starting. Everything progressed normally. I was up against this rookie from Germany; Klavier Gavin was his name."

Mia shrugged.

"Apparently he's some rock star too. Honestly, I don't think he's much of a prosecutor but," Phoenix snorted, "I guess he beat me."

"Wright, I believe I asked for the facts," Mia scolded.

"Right," Phoenix conceded in admonishment. "Long story short, he drove me into presenting that page. I didn't even question it. I played right into his hands, presented forged evidence, and lost my badge."

"So you think he's the one behind it?"

Phoenix shrugged in return. "I'm not sure, but I know his brother is. Kristoph Gavin ring a bell?"

Mia thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I had a talk with the forger," Phoenix continued. "Actually, with his daughter. She was so shy, wouldn't tell me a thing, but I managed to break her Psyche-Locks with Kristoph's picture. Now I just need some proof... and I haven't managed to find a thing." He finished his sentence by slouching forward in his seat.

"Nothing?"

Phoenix lifted his hands and just dropped them again in a pathetic shrug. "I don't even know what I'm looking for. I'm pretending to be his friend but that hasn't gotten me anything. God, a year's passed and I'm not even any closer than when I started!"

Mia's brow creased as she studied the man next to her. "Time doesn't just 'pass', Phoenix," she told him. "You let it get away."

"I just don't want him to get suspicious," was Phoenix's excuse.

"And I don't want you getting complacent," Mia rebutted. "Things can't continue on like this. I'm not going to try and separate you two, but I told you to be careful with her."

Phoenix sat back up to defend himself. "I was... I _am!_ We love each other."

Mia looked pained, as if she hated what she had to say. "Of that I have no doubts, but surely you have to see how this must be hurting her."

Phoenix looked away. "What do you expect me to do? You told me to never let go of what I believe in… and I believe in _her_."

Mia smirked ever so slightly but there was no mirth behind it. "Maybe I taught you too well, Phoenix, but believe it or not, I'm speaking from experience."

It didn't take long for Phoenix to catch her meaning. He leaned back in the couch and looked into the ceiling for a moment to gather his thoughts. Slowly turning his head back to Mia, he finally asked his question.

"Are you afraid we'll wind up like you two?"

"Are you?" Mia countered. Even so, her voice remained calm and kind. "I don't know your adversary. Is he the type to retaliate to your investigation?"

"I don't know," Phoenix admitted. "Something about him scares me, though." He turned on the couch slightly to better face Mia. "That's why I originally tried to send Maya away when she ran straight here after my disbarment. I didn't want her mixed up in this but, well..."

Mia nodded with a tiny smile on her face. "I can imagine how she took to that idea."

"That was... that was actually when we finally figured out we loved each other," Phoenix sheepishly confessed. "Some timing, huh?"

"Maybe it was perfect timing," Mia suggested. Seeing Phoenix's perplexed expression she continued with, "I always taught you to smile when things were their darkest. Maybe she's giving you a way to do just that. I did leave you in her care, after all."

Phoenix smiled slightly at the thought.

Mia, however, only knitted her brow as she continued. "I shouldn't have to remind you how impossibly resilient Maya is. So to that end, I'm more worried about _you_. I haven't seen you so broken since, well, since the last time Maya was in danger."

Phoenix could not bring himself to meet his mentor's eyes. "With any luck she _won't_ be in any danger. I feel like I'm keeping her prisoner in Kurain half the time as scared as I am of people seeing us together. This," he explained, gesturing towards the apartment upstairs, "was just a special treat,"

Mia frowned at her former pupil. "I told you I wasn't going to be mad, Phoenix, but I'm not going to just sit by and let you wander into the same end I did. Do you know why I first agreed to take you on as an understudy?"

"Um... if you're asking, it's probably not because of my qualifications..."

Mia shook her head. "Phoenix, I wasn't even looking for anyone when you came up to my door and begged to be even my coffee boy."

Phoenix leaned away from his former boss and stared intently at the other side of the room. "I... I didn't beg, did I?"

"If I counted every 'please' you said I'd have probably broken triple digits and to be honest, I didn't exactly get the best impression of you when we first met."

Phoenix buried his fingers in his hair spikes as he hunched over on the couch. "Chief, come on, I'm suffering enough here..."

Mia patted her friend on the shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Hold on, I'm going somewhere with this." She took her hand back and continued. "The reason I took you on was because I was lonely."

"Lonely?"

"My boyfriend was in a coma, my best friend had stopped talking to me, and I had discovered my own boss was the one who sold out my mother. I had to get out of Grossberg Law Offices and my only conversational partner was a plant. I see he's still doing well, by the way." She smiled over her shoulder at Charley who was standing proudly in the corner.

"But I broke my own rule on you, Phoenix," Mia confessed, turning her attention back to the topic at hand. The woman gently placed her hand on Phoenix's leg to force his focus onto her. "I didn't trust you. I left you out of my investigation into Redd White and I died for it, just like how Diego confronted Dahlia alone and nearly died himself. I didn't learn a thing. For both your sake and Maya's, don't think you have to do this alone just to protect her."

Phoenix shrank away from the touch and instead stared at the piano buried under magical props. "I'm not completely alone," he reasoned. "Maya's been looking into the Gramaryes for me. Uh, they're the troupe my client was from. I have Edgeworth keeping an eye on the Gavins too."

"And you have a daughter now," Mia added.

Phoenix nodded. "And I have a daughter. I'm not letting Trucy in on it, though. When she goes to work with me and Kristoph shows up, the last thing I need is her begging for a 'new mommy' by name."

"If you say so," Mia accepted. "Just please be careful and please don't wind up like me. I think I told you that your greatest gift is your friendship. Don't lose that out of fear of losing it." Seeing Phoenix sitting quietly and pondering her words, she decided to change the subject. "But you said you take Trucy to work? What is it you do now?"

Phoenix's breath caught suddenly. He leaned forward on his knees and caught his head on his right thumb and forefinger to stare into the floor. Revealing his new job was almost as painful and embarrassing as confessing his disbarment. He took a deep breath and looked back up to Mia's pensively waiting face.

"I'm... I'm a pianist now."

Mia looked at him in just the surprise he expected. "A pianist? I didn't kn-"

"No," he interrupted. "I can't play."

"You sound like you've been through this conversation before."

"Only every time I tell the story," he groaned, shaking his head. "The piano playing's just a front for my real job anyway. I, er, I play poker. I'm undefeated."

Phoenix could feel his already meager confidence collapse under his last sentence. There really was no good way to make his unbroken win record sound like anything but childish bragging or pathetic compensation for his failure.

"Poker?" Mia questioned.

"It's not gambling or anything," Phoenix explained. By now he already knew everyone's exact reaction to each sentence in the story he had told it so many times. "I just get paid to play customers wanting a challenge. Plus, Trucy's father was big in the poker circuit. I figure if I stick with this, I might be able to find him."

"So you're only holding on to her temporarily?"

Phoenix's gaze roamed around the room. "I thought so, at least at the beginning. Now, I'm not sure I could let her go." He looked back to Mia with a shy smile. "She's my daughter, Chief. She loves me and I love her. If anything good has come out of all this, it's Trucy."

Phoenix stood from the couch and went over to the desk that had been shoved out of the way to make room for the "agency". He plucked a picture frame from it and brought it back over to where Mia was still seated.

"This is her," he said.

Mia took the picture in her hands to see a little girl in a pink magician's costume with her fists on her hips and her mouth set into a gigantic grin. Phoenix himself was crouched next to her with his hand on her shoulder and a similar smile on his own face. Mia's chest swelled with vicarious pride and she placed her hand on her mouth.

"Oh, she's so cute," she appraised. "Look at you, the doting father."

Phoenix smiled bashfully and rubbed at the back of his neck before taking the photo back. Rather than returning it to his desk, he set it on the end table by the couch and sat back down next to his mentor and friend.

"Promise me that when all this is taken care of I'll get to play aunt for her," Mia requested.

"Definitely," Phoenix swore. "You have no idea how tempting it is to just confess everything, ruin both my investigation and Maya's reputation just to bring my girls together." He sighed. "But I can't do that. I can't."

"Phoenix, listen to me." Mia stood from the couch and Phoenix rose with her. "It took me years to gather what I did on Redd White. Don't expect this to be fast, but you just have to keep at it."

Phoenix sighed. "I know. I just wish I knew what to do. Feel like giving me all the answers one more time for old time's sake?"

Mia pleasantly shook her head. "I don't have them this time. However, I still believe what I told you the last time I was in court with you. There's nothing more for me to teach you."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that..."

"Phoenix, even though I did all that research into Redd White, when it came down to it, I still wasn't the one who put the final nail in his coffin. That was you."

"B-but, Chief, you were the one who-"

Mia held up a hand to shush him. "Never doubt yourself, Phoenix. It's going to be hard, but even the most impossible odds have been nothing to what I've seen you and Maya achieve already. Who defeated the undefeatable Von Karma? Who defied a blackmailer and thwarted an assassin in a single blow? Who triumphed over an evil spirit hellbent on revenge? Who, and don't lie to me, is reshaping Kurain for the better even when one of the two can't even enter the village? I know that no matter what happens, no matter how long it takes, you two will overcome this, hands held and heads high."

Phoenix drew and exhaled a deep and somewhat shaky breath at the unexpected and, if you asked him, undeserved praise. He wetted his lips trying to determine just how to respond.

"I... I don't even know what to say," was all he could utter.

Mia stepped forward and took her friend in a hug. "Just promise me you'll invite me to the wedding."

Phoenix chuckled over the woman in his arms. "I promise."

"Oh, and tell Maya I'd like to speak with her too," Mia requested, moving back out of the hug. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

Phoenix nodded.

"So take care of yourself. Take care of Maya. If you ever need anything, anything at all, I'm right here. No more being scared, okay? No more spinning your wheels. I taught you better than that."

Phoenix felt a lump in his throat again, but for a completely new reason this time. "It's no wonder Diego came back from the dead for you, Chief."

Mia only smiled in response. "Goodbye for now, Phoenix."

With that, she left her sister's body and Maya found herself down in the agency. The loose fitting sweatpants that had barely been clinging to Mia promptly dropped to the floor. In a panic, she snatched them back up and held them in a white-knuckled death grip.

"Um..." she started in a panic, "why am I downstairs and in your clothes? Did we switch bodies in the middle of the night?" She suddenly glowered at her boyfriend. "Nick, what have you been doing with my body!?"

Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck. "You mean besides last night?"

"Wait... d-did I...?" Maya lowered herself onto the couch.

Phoenix sat down with her. "Have you sleep channeled before?"

"I think so, maybe once or twice. It only happens when I'm really stressed or something, though. But since it happened last night too... I guess it can happen when I'm really happy too..." she confessed with a deep blush.

Phoenix could not help but smile back at her, forcing her to look away from him in embarrassment.

"But if I sleep channeled..." she began to figure, "does that mean...?"

Phoenix nodded. "I, uh, I got a rude awakening from your sister, that's for sure."

Maya stifled laughter, and asked, "Did she try to defend my honor?"

"Uh, for a little bit. I'm just glad you find it funny. I don't think most girls would be so forgiving if they found out their boyfriend woke up fondling their sister."

"Well, I didn't really give you much of a choice. Sorry about that."

"N-no, it's okay. Really okay."

Maya's face immediately turned to a scowl. "Thin ice, Nick."

Phoenix formed a gauche, subservient grin. "Uh, right."

The pair sat in silence for a moment before Maya finally asked the question both of them already knew was coming.

"So... what did you two talk about?"

"Well," Phoenix started, "the obvious one was 'us'. She honestly wasn't that surprised it happened. I think everyone kinda knew we'd wind up together before we did."

"Um," Maya murmured quietly, "I kinda told Sis I had a crush on you, though."

"Oh, is that so?" Phoenix goaded, suddenly feeling bold again.

"Shut uuuup!" Maya exclaimed, completely humiliated. She grabbed a throw pillow off the couch to whack at him. "What was I supposed to feel? You risked your life to save me on like a daily basis back then! Pearly's fantasies about you being a heroic knight really weren't off the mark, okay!?"

After blocking several pillow strikes with his arms, Phoenix lowered his guard with a face full of laughter still showing. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'm amazing. Would it have killed you to tell me that once in a while?"

"Yes," Maya insisted. "I'd have died of embarrassment. So, what, did you and Sis just gossip about me the whole time then?"

"No gossip," Phoenix swore. "Actually, the conversation moved on to me pretty quickly."

All the humor and indignation dropped from Maya's face in an instant. She moved her hand to her face in thought. "Oh yeah... I guess she knows everything now, huh? S-sorry. I really did want to be there when you told her."

"It's alright," he insisted. "I think talking to her was just what I needed and... I'm glad you didn't see me fall apart on her. I think the scariest part of my disbarment was letting her find out."

Maya scooted closer to her boyfriend and nuzzled into him. "She had some miraculous answer that saved the day like always though, right?"

Phoenix sighed and wrapped his arms around Maya, resting his head on hers. "I don't think this one's going to be that easy, but she did remind me of something very important."

"What's that?"

"I'm not doing this by myself. I think I lost sight of that, but this is no different from when I was still practicing. With you, and me, and everyone else we can do anything."

Maya cocked her head. "You mean like how you and Mr. Edgeworth worked together to find the truth, even when you were supposed to be against each other?"

"Exactly. I have him out there watching the Gavins, I have Trucy at home to keep me sane, I have an eternal mentor now to push me along and," he smiled down at Maya, "I have the love of my life in my arms right now, giving me reason to fight."

"Nick, you are so incredibly lame," Maya replied, despite the flattered blush rapidly spreading across her face.

Phoenix only nodded in agreement and moved down for a kiss.

Maya happily obliged. "We'll figure this out," she promised once their lips separated. "But right now I'm on vacation, so we're taking a break from all that. Today, it's just us."

Phoenix nodded again and simply held his girlfriend close to him. The future was uncertain and he still had absolutely no plan of attack, but he felt far better about it now. It was only a matter of time and, if that time was spent like this, he would be okay with it.


End file.
